Conflicting accounts of what occurred before a black transgender woman was escorted by police out of an Indiana orchard attraction highlight how confusion can arise when trying to show or prove whether a dog is a service animal under federal law.

LaSaia Wade says she, her service dog Bo, an American Staffordshire terrier, and a group of fellow Chicago friends were at County Line Orchard in Hobart on Saturday when she was ordered to leave by police. A Facebook post and video of the incident made by her friend, Val Holdahl, was later shared more than 3,500 times and drew more than 5,000 comments.

Wade said she repeatedly showed documentation indicating that Bo is a service animal.

“It made me feel like I was less than a human and no one was listening, no one wanted to listen,” she said.

Under federal law, service dogs must be allowed into workplaces, schools, restaurants, hotels and other public places even if those places ban pets.

To determine whether a dog is a service animal, according to the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Right Division, staff at such public places may ask only whether the dog is a service animal required because of a disability and what work or task the dog has been trained to perform.

Collins and Ryan Richardson, the orchard’s operator, say staff asked Wade whether the animal was a service dog and what service it was providing but Wade wouldn’t cooperate and was asked to leave.

Wade said she was asked whether Bo is a service animal but was never asked what the dog was trained for.

And although Wade provided documentation from some organization that recognizes the dog as a service animal, such documents do not convey any rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, nor does the Justice Department recognize the documents as proof the dog is a service animal, according to the Justice Department.

"Dealing with service dogs is a slippery slope," Hobart Police Department Lt. James Gonzales told IndyStar. "There's really no guidelines that specify what requirements there are for a service animal."

Service dogs do not require any special licenses or documents to prove that they are in fact trained to help a disabled owner, he said. They also are easily confused with therapy animals or comfort animals, which are not protected under federal law.

The Hobart police officer involved in the incident at the orchard "acted professionally while performing his duties" and will not be disciplined, Gonzales said.

Wade said she is prone to seizures.

Seizure response dogs can stimulate people after a seizure, act as a brace to help them get up or find someone to help, among other tasks.

Wade posted on Facebook a voice mail she said she received from Richardson after the incident.

“(I) understand we didn’t handle a situation with you guys and your friend and your group very well yesterday,” Richardson said in the voicemail. “Just wanted to reach out and communicate with you all just so we could talk and kind of understand what happened and learn from this and hopefully have a better plan and policy in place.”

Richardson told IndyStar on Tuesday afternoon that he left the voicemail Sunday morning while he was still learning the details of the incident and before Collins made his statement to IndyStar on Tuesday. Since then, Richardson said, it has become clear that employees were unable to get clear information from Wade after asking her both of the legally allowed questions regarding her dog.

“They were not forthcoming with information,” he said.

One of the people in Wade’s group, Jes Scheinpflug, said things quickly got out of hand.

“We just wanted to pick apples and enjoy nature,” Scheinpflug said. “We were behaving just like every other customer until the police officer showed up and right away threatened arrest.”

Scheinpflug said she and her friends have been receiving death threats since Holdahl’s Facebook video went viral.